Wharton State Forest ATV Trails

Wharton State Forest is the largest single tract of land in the New Jersey State Park System at 122,880 acres, occupying the core of the Pine Barrens: the Pinelands National Reserve in Burlington, Atlantic, and Camden counties that represents one of the largest and most ecologically unusual landscapes in the eastern United States. Within this vast forest of pitch pine, scrub oak, and Atlantic white cedar swamps, the NJDEP designates a network of sand roads and ATV trails that constitute the primary public-land OHV riding opportunity in New Jersey. The Pinelands terrain is unique in the mid-Atlantic: deep, clean sand over the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, flat to gently rolling topography, and the distinctively open understory of the pine plains that gives Wharton a desert-like spaciousness unusual for the congested northeast corridor. ATV trail routes wind through the pine forest on designated sandy two-tracks and forest roads, crossing the cedar swamp streams that drain toward the Mullica River and Batsto River, both blackwater streams characteristic of the acidic Pinelands hydrology. ATVs and registered dirt bikes are the primary permitted vehicle classes; the sandy terrain and flat grades are well suited to beginner and intermediate riders. The historic Batsto Village within the forest adds a tourism anchor for non-riding companions. New Jersey requires ATV registration; riders must remain on designated ATV routes and are not permitted on all forest roads. Contact the Wharton State Forest office in Hammonton (609-561-0024) for current trail designations and seasonal conditions.